JPMC becomes first public hospital to start specialised training for doctors

The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) has become that only public sector hospital in the country to start FCPC training in emergency medicine after the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) accorded full accreditation to the hospital to start specialised training.

Currently, only two private sector hospitals in the country – the Shifa International in Islamabad and the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi -- are allowed to impart FCPS training to doctors in emergency medicine, but after acquiring the CPSP’s full accreditation, the JPMC has become the third such hospital.

According to a letter from the CPSP registrar to JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali, the hospital has been allowed to start an FCPS programme in emergency medicine with immediate effect, but it has made it mandatory for trainees to serve at the emergency wards of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and Obsts. and Gynae Department of the JPMC as part of their training.

Emergency Medicine is an emerging discipline of medicine which is now very well established in the developed world, but in Pakistan this important specialty had remained neglected for many years until the CPSP accredited two institutions, one in Islamabad and one in Karachi, for the specialised training.

Due to the limited number of seats at both private healthcare facilities, the CPSP had even signed an agreement with healthcare institutions in Ireland to impart two years’ training to Pakistani doctors in emergency medicine, but due to the growing demand for such experts at various public and private hospitals, the healthcare training providing body of Pakistan decided to accredit the JPMC to start a mega FCPS training programme.

“A team of the CPSP had visited the JPMC to revisit facilities for the training in the area of emergency medicine and pointed out some deficiencies, which we met in 2014. This was a long process and after meeting all the CPSP requirements, they have allowed us to start FCPS training in the field of emergency medicine, which is a great achievement for us,” Dr. Seemin Jamali told The News.

She said the Accident and Emergency Department of the JPMC dealt with a multitude of medical and surgical emergency cases, and on average, around 1500 patients were attended to by doctors and paramedical staff, the largest operation of this kind anywhere in the country.

As per the CPSP terms and conditions for accreditation in family medicine, the supervisory body would re-examine and re-inspect the facility after five years, but in the meantime, it would keep an eye over the quality of training and facilities required for the training of doctors in dealing with medical and surgical emergencies and trauma cases.

Felicitating her staff and officials at the JPMC for their achievement, Dr Jamali said fellows would be inducted to get training in emergency medicine from entire Sindh, and after the completion of their training, they would be able to serve at other public and private hospitals in the accident and emergency department.

“The majority of people in Pakistan prefer to report in the emergency departments of the hospitals in Pakistan, and on the other hand, due to the prevailing law and order situation, emergency departments of the hospitals always remain busy in dealing with a large number of cases. This specialised training would help us in dealing with such emergencies,” she maintained.